{"id":47774,"date":"2023-10-20T15:55:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/new-co-working-space-the-dream-factory-set-to-open-in-melbourne\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:55:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:55:02","slug":"new-co-working-space-the-dream-factory-set-to-open-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/new-co-working-space-the-dream-factory-set-to-open-in-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"New co-working space the Dream Factory set to open in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"332\" itemprop=\"image\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/dreamfactory-640x332.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"dreamfactory\"><\/div>\n<p>A new socially conscious 7000m2 co-working space spanning four levels is set to bring 550 jobs to Melbourne\u2019s west.<\/p>\n<p>Run by the Impact Investment Group (IIG), the Dream Factory will take over the former global head office of Lonely Planet Publications on the Maribyrnong River in Footscray.<\/p>\n<p>The space, which IIG bought for $13.5 million last year, will provide a \u201cworkplace for individuals and businesses focused on design, technology and social change\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>IIG CEO Chris Lock says the new space is representative of the fund\u2019s social focus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel it\u2019s a bold representation of our investment mandate to deliver strong commercial returns with tangible social and environmental outcomes,\u201d Lock says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no doubt that our environmental and social agenda has driven this strong tenant demand to the Dream Factory, in an otherwise weak leasing market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Dream Factory\u2019s core tenant will be fellow Melbourne co-working space Inspire9, which will expanding into 2000m2 of the space, and Engineers Without Borders Australia will also be a founding tenant.<\/p>\n<p>The co-working hub will also feature Australia\u2019s first commercial Tesla Battery System, along with 200kwh of Rooftop Solar PV panels.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the second socially aware startup initiative to be announced in Melbourne recently, with impact investor Geoff Gourley <a href=\"\/advice\/legal\/social-enterprise-incubator-was-only-a-matter-of-time-for-geoff-gourley\/\">launching the One10 social enterprise accelerator and consulting agency late last year.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Victorian minister for small business, innovation and trade Philip Dalidakis says the Dream Factory is another sign that the state is leading the way on innovation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great to see Victoria\u2019s value for co-working spaces and incubators expanding beyond Melbourne\u2019s CBD to support startups and social businesses in the west,\u201d Dalidakis says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are Australia\u2019s startup capital and this new investment through the Dream Factory will further strengthen Victoria\u2019s reputation as the place to do business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The organisation is currently seeking expressions of interest from \u201cvalues-aligned tenants\u201d for the remaining space, which ranges from 400m2 to 2200m2.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow StartupSmart on <strong>Facebook<\/strong>, <strong>Twitter<\/strong>, <strong>LinkedIn<\/strong> and <strong>SoundCloud<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new socially conscious 7000m2 co-working space spanning four levels is set to bring 550 jobs to Melbourne\u2019s west. Run<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}